Miss Aurora's Long Lost Quilt

Although it was not exactly lost.  I knew where it was all the time.

What I didn't know was "when".  As is "when will I ever finish that quilt!"




A friend from work and his wife were expecting their second bundle of joy.  I was thinking of trying a different style of quilt.  Previously,  I had made several quilts using the "log cabin" design. The "log cabin" approach has the distinct advantage of being one that can be made using a sewing machine to speed production.

I had seen some quilts at the local fair that used equilateral triangles to create various patterns. Some patterns are derived from the material.  Other patterns, as seen at the links below, are created by using color to create the illusion of dimensionality.

   

If you do it right, it looks like the blocks in the video game Q*bert.

 

I was intrigued!  So I bought a triangle guide and a bunch of material and set to wok.  My thought was that I would create something colorful with lots of kid-friendly primary colors.  My other thought was that I would use that third dimensionality to create some interesting illusions.

The result:

In the close up sectional views, I hope you will see some of the visual games I was trying to play.

While I was generally pleased with the result, I was also a little disappointed.  All of the materials were flannel.  Flannel has the ability to stretch a little.  So it was very hard to get all the corners to match up perfectly.  Also, when it came time to quilt the top, batting, and bottom together, the flannel tended to stretch so that I had to fiddle with it so that the quilt would lay flat.  There is one area where it is painfully clear...to me...that I wasn't very successful as there is a bunch of loose material.

The back side is kind of interesting.  I quilted around all the major blocks.  For us quilters, it is called "stitch in the ditch".  This is the stitching that holds all the layers together. You can see some of the optical illusions on the back side of the quilt.

And here is the finished product with yours truly along side.

Why did this quilt take so long to make?  Every piece had to be individually cut.  Unlike the "log cabin" pattern, you sew one piece at a time.  It can get a little tedious.

But I learned a couple things about this approach to quilting.  If I ever decide to give it another shot, then I hope to be a little better prepared for the adventure.

At long last, the quilt is done.  Two years after I began and 18 months or so after Miss Aurora entered the world, I finally got it done.  She will never be cold again.

My complete record of quilts.